This paper investigates improving the leading-edge of a hydrofoil with sinusoidal protuberances based on its hydrodynamic performance. The original hydrofoil geometry was inspired by the leading edge of the flipper of a humpback whale. A multi-step optimization process was performed for a 634-021 hydrofoil. The free-form deformation technique defined the shape parameters as a variable design, and these parameters included the amplitude of the leading-edge protuberances, which ranged from 0 to 20% of the chord length, and the corrugate span, with 3 and 4 crests. The flow characteristics of a parametric hydrofoil were examined using a CFD solver, and the lift, drag, and lift-to-drag ratio (L/D) were computed as responses to the optimization cycle. To accomplish this, two design study methods were sequentially applied at different angles of attack. A full factorial design sweep tool was applied that went through all parameter value combinations, and an RBF-based surrogate model was constructed to investigate the system behavior. The results indicated the existence of an optimum design point, and the highest L/D ratio was determined to be 10.726 at a 12° angle of attack.

The hydrodynamic performance of trimaran hulls has been previously investigated for optimum performance in calm water, but there is still a limited understanding of its motion response; therefore, a CFD-based numerical approach was developed and applied on a trimaran hull in the presence of regular and irregular waves. To validate the CFD method, a comparison was conducted using both experimental and 3D panel method data. In this study, two different turbulence models were surveyed, and the SST Menter k-Omega (k-ω) turbulence model was shown to be a more accurate model than the realizable k-Epsilon (k-ε) model. The different features of the proposed numerical model include the implementation of an overset mesh method, unique mesh plan refinement, and wave-damping region. The discrepancy between the experimental data and the results of other seakeeping calculation methods have always been problematic, especially for low-speed strip theory and 3D panel methods, but good consistency was observed between the proposed CFD model and experimental data. Unlike potential-based or conformal mapping seakeeping analysis methods, the effect of nonlinear waves, hull shape above the waterline, and other ship dynamic phenomena were considered in this CFD application. The proposed CFD method reduces the simulation time and computational efforts for ship motion calculations.

This paper examines the effect of the stern wedge length and height on the drag and trim of a chine-planing hull in calm water. To this end, fluid flow was simulated by Star-CCM+ software by applying an overset mesh and k-ε turbulent model. The finite volume method was used to discretize the fluid domain, and the fluid volume was utilized to capture the generated free surface. The considered model is a prismatic planing hull with a deadrise angle of 24°, a mass of 86 kg, a length (L) of 2.64 m, and a beam (B) of 0.55 m. For validation, the numerical results of drag and trim were compared against experimental data, which displayed good compliance. Subsequently, the hydrodynamic performance of the planing hull was investigated, and the wedge effect was assessed. The stern wedge was located at the bottom and near the aft perpendicular to the hull to facilitate a moderate distribution. Various wedge lengths of 0.2B, 0.5B, and B at two different heights of 5 mm and 10 mm were examined to assess the hydrodynamic performance of the hull at various speeds. The trim angle, resistance, water surface elevation, porpoising, roster tail, and the stern and bow were computed and analyzed. Based on the numerical results, it was concluded that when the wedge length increased, the drag and trim were reduced. It was also concluded that the best wedge for a vessel with desirable wake generation is one with a length of 0.2B and a height of 5 mm.

Hydrofoils are utilized as instruments to improve the hydrodynamic performance of marine equipment. In this paper, the motion of a 2D NACA0012 hydrofoil advancing in water near the free surface was simulated, and a mesh morphing-adjoint based optimizer was used to maximize its lift-to-drag ratio. Ansys-Fluent was used as a CFD solver, and a mesh-morphing tool was used as a geometry reconstruction tool. Furthermore, the Adjoint solver was applied to evaluate the sensitivities of the objective function to all solution variables. Defined control points around the geometry are design variables that move in an appropriate direction through shape sensitivity. The computational results were validated against available experimental data and published numerical findings. Subsequently, different hydrodynamic characteristics of the optimized hydrofoil were compared to those of the original model at different angles of attack of 3, 3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, 6, and 6.5°, and optimized shapes were determined. It was observed that the shape of the optimized hydrofoil was totally dependent on the angle of attack, which produced different lift-to-drag ratios. It is also seen that among higher angles of attack at which improvement in the L/D ratio became steady, the drag coefficient was the lowest at 5°. Therefore, it can be concluded that the appropriate angle of attack for a hydrofoil installation on the ship hull is 5°. Further investigation was conducted concerning the evolution of shape optimization, sensitivity analysis, free surface elevation, flow characteristics, and hydrodynamic performance of the hydrofoil at a 5° angle of attack.